


A disaster or not really

by kazarina



Series: Meant for each other [2]
Category: Captive Prince - C. S. Pacat
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Fluff and Angst, Laurent is an architect, M/M, Sweet Ending, first date disasters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-10
Updated: 2020-04-10
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:01:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,773
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23573542
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kazarina/pseuds/kazarina
Summary: Their first real date was nothing short of a disaster. Damen likes sharing the story, or maybe he just likes the way Laurent always pinks a little listening to it.
Relationships: Damen/Laurent (Captive Prince)
Series: Meant for each other [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1696846
Comments: 13
Kudos: 104





	A disaster or not really

“He does?” Damen says, alarmed, as he pulls up a little to look into Laurent’s face from where they are both reclining in Damen’s couch. 

“Of course,” Laurent says easily. 

“When?” Damen’s eyes widens a little.

“What? This of all things throws you?” Laurent quirks an eyebrow, and then his expression takes on that slight teasing look that Damen is familiar with. Laurent says, “Don’t worry, it couldn’t possibly be worse than our first date.” Laurent grins, and Damen is helpless to it. Damen rolls his eyes, a gesture that he has unconsciously picked up from Laurent in the three months they’ve been officially dating.

Their first real date was nothing short of a disaster. Damen likes sharing the story, or maybe he just likes the way Laurent always pinks a little listening to it. Laurent can’t help it much as he tries. Damen’s rich voice, good-humored and at times self-deprecating, feels like a blanket that envelops around him, like running your fingers through the thick fur of a golden retriever or the sensation of settling into a scented bath. That’s what Damen feels like to him. Warm, comfortable, easy. 

Damen likes to talk about how they met. He likes to talk about Laurent in any way he can, to anyone who will listen. Ordinarily, Laurent would hate it when others would talk about him, presuming all sorts of things that aren’t true, but Damen is an exception, has always been. Laurent thinks maybe it’s because there is so much love in the way he talks, whether it is about Laurent or something else.

There is so much passion, enthusiasm and empathy when Damen interacts with his friends - their friends now - and there is a strange delight in hearing Damen speak about him so lovingly. Damen’s eyes would meet Laurent’s, bright with joy, and Laurent would feel his own happiness bubbling within him, a mirror to Damen’s. And when Damen makes everyone laugh - because he is _Damen_ \- he would look towards Laurent and grin, as if to say _and look where we are now_. Laurent would then roll his eyes, make some half-hearted disparaging remark about how ridiculous Damen is. At some point, Damen’s hand would wind around his fingers, making Laurent heady with everything. He wonders then how he can bear it all, all this unfamiliar happiness, sweetness and emotion. Can one person feel so much for another? He wonders how he got so lucky at all. 

It wasn’t so much that they had a rocky start. It was more a matter of a number of unfortunate events occurring all at once, on the very specific day of their first date.

It began with Laurent pacing. And pacing and pacing, in the thirty minutes leading up to the time they had agreed upon to meet. Damen was going to pick him up at his office, and Laurent was a mess, his anxiety getting the worst of him. He had called Auguste several times that day, but never quite revealing the source of his anxiety. The first time he called Auguste was to arrange the details of their dinner on the weekend. The second time, was to ask - order - him to bring that pasta maker he had been wanting to try out when they meet. On the third call, Auguste had laughed even before Laurent made up a semi-plausible reason to call about, and said to him, “Little brother, whatever you’re worried about, I am absolutely sure it will be fine.” - and then because it was Auguste, who knows more about Laurent than he would prefer, he also added - “I usually fear more for whoever you’re dealing with.” After that, unless Laurent wanted to tell Auguste the real reason, which he did not, he could not realistically invent any other excuses to call Auguste anymore.

Rationally, he knew it was because he wasn’t very experienced at this, at dating, and that there was simply no way to feel better than to plunge in. But the other parts of him stayed tense and stiff, fingers wringing over themselves repetitively in a motion that would not stop. He wanted instead to continue the way he was, bury himself in the work he loves, and keep to himself, never opening himself up, and therefore never ever feel the kind of betrayal he had experienced when his uncle pretended to care for him and then used his intimate knowledge of him to takeover their parents’ firm. Laurent fought for it back eventually, together with Auguste’s, but could not forgive himself for trusting his uncle, giving him the opening he needed. 

Just as Laurent contemplated cancelling the whole thing, Damen called instead, apologising profusely, that something has come up and he was stuck at work. Laurent breathed a sigh of relief, and somehow managed to say, “Don’t worry about it.” He hoped his voice didn’t tremble. 

It was only later that Laurent got to know, that a supplier for one of Damen’s restaurants had an issue that disrupted all of their supply chain, leaving Damen and his managers frantically ringing other suppliers late into the evening for delivery the next day. Damen adamantly refused to shut the restaurant, not wanting to disappoint the customers that had booked in advance, often for a special occasion. 

Laurent then spent the next two hours calming his nerves, simply because one had to eventually stop pacing and he returned to a mindless part of his work, filing administrative paperwork that he usually hated doing. The hours passed without him knowing, turning the evening more into night, and he almost forgot that Damen was coming. Until he called again. 

More apologies stumbled out as the words tripped over themselves, and Damen asked if he could still come in ten minutes, or if Laurent would prefer to meet at another time, that Damen would really like to see him for a little if he could, but he would defer to Laurent’s decision. He sounded disappointed or exhausted, Laurent couldn’t tell. A fine misty rain was just starting up outside his windows, the kind of light rain that was harmless and cool, difficult to see through the window. Laurent only noticed because he staring so hard and looking for a distraction. His heart ceaselessly pounding with anxiety, somehow Laurent found himself saying the words, “Yes, that’s ok, I’m still at the office.” When Laurent put down the phone, the drizzle was growing steadier. Laurent packed his things, locked up the office and prepared to meet Damen at the entrance. 

In all the time that Laurent has known Damen, he had never been one to place much emphasis on dressing. Damen was practical and wore simple fitted suits - white shirt black pants and a grey jacket, seldom varying from those colors. Besides, he looked good in just about everything. It was what Laurent had come to expect, after having known Damen for almost a year. Which was why Laurent almost definitely did not expect Damen to turn up soaking wet, drenched to the point where the ends of his brown curls dripped water onto his shoulders. Damen in fact had been about to turn around and go, had not Laurent been by the front door, eyes widened as he called out to Damen to get under cover in the office building. They both watched as the carpet beneath Damen’s feet darkened with water. Outside, visibility of the night city had greatly reduced in the sudden and unusual downpour.

“I am so sorry, Laurent, this is really not how I wanted us to meet...” Damen said, uselessly trying to fling water off himself, his dark skin flushed with embarrassment even as he shivered a little. But Laurent was already taking off his jacket, his anxiety all but forgotten, shoving it over Damen as he asked worriedly, “Are you cold? Wait here.” Laurent quickly returned with a spare towel that he kept in gym bag in his office. Damen looked just as nervous and worried as he had left him. He had shrugged off his jacket and was holding it bunched up in one hand, Laurent’s jacket wrapped around him. Laurent draped the towel across his shoulders, whereupon Damen proceeded to wipe down his face and his hair. 

“Thank you! I parked too far, and I didn’t think it would rain that much... I should have gone back to the car...” Damen said. 

“Yes you should have,” Laurent chided with a smile. “Luckily for us, my car is right there and I can drive us instead.”

“You still want to go?” Damen’s eyes are full of hope and he is eager as a child. 

“Well I am not about to starve myself. But first, you are going to get home and put on some dry clothes.” Laurent said, amused. 

Somehow, they manage to share Laurent’s single umbrella the short distance to Laurent’s car. It was pouring and windy, the rain coming at them sideways, so they had to huddle together as they walked. This close to Damen, Laurent could smell his familiar cologne and watch the way his wet shirt clung to his skin. It was distracting. Damen hesitated after pulling the door open, “But I’ll get your car wet!”

“And you’re getting both of us wet, the longer you make me stand here, Damen!” Laurent retorted easily. Everything feels different when Damen is in front of him. Laurent didn’t feel so nervous anymore, and it occurred to him how much different the Damen is in his thoughts compared to the one in person. Less and more intimidating. Just different. 

Damen had no choice but to obey. It didn’t take long for them to get to Damen’s apartment, with Damen giving Laurent directions all the way. Once there, Laurent paused at the hallway, while Damen went into one of the bedrooms. Damen’s apartment is simple and elegant, but tastefully furnished. Laurent wouldn’t have expected anything less of him. Both of them share a love of aesthetic and of design. The couch, in particular, is a stand out piece, classically styled, it’s smooth leather of a beautiful wine red. Laurent can’t help but move towards it, wanting to feel it under his fingers. 

One moment he is reaching out a hand towards the back of the couch, and the next he is sitting rather ungracefully on the marble floor, giving out a yelp as he slipped on a bit of water that puddled on a spot Damen had stood on. In the few seconds that passed next, Damen had run out upon hearing him. This is the part that Damen conveniently skips and doesn’t tell anyone, save for his closest friend Nikandros who he had told the very next day.

It all happened in that importuned moment, that in his rush, Damen had stepped out of his bedroom sans clothes. Nothing, not at all, zilch. Laurent took one look at him and adverted his eyes immediately, feeling a deep flush rise up his cheeks. He let Damen hold his arm and help him up, even as he could not stop his eyes from flicking down _that_ way. Laurent didn’t know what else he could say, so he thanked Damen politely, trying his best to ignore the awkward situation, resisting the urge to press his hands to his hips where his ass was stinging from the fall. Damen retreated after that, and all but fled back into his bedroom, but not before Laurent lifted his eyes to a full view of his behind. 

Afterwards they stared at each other awkwardly, and then Laurent burst out laughing, unable to help the giggles rising up in him. Damen blushed, and then walked to the nearest wall and hid his face in his hands. 

“This is the most embarrassing day of my life.” Damen lamented, and then softer to himself, “and in front of the man I wish to impress the most too.” 

The last vestiges of Laurent’s anxiety leaves him, utterly and completely, and Laurent, still smiling, shyly grabs Damen’s hand, “Come on, are we going to eat or what?” 

“You still...” Damen said, holding Laurent’s hand as if it was a lifeline, and when Laurent nodded, he brought Laurent’s hand up to his lips and dropped a kiss on the back of his knuckles. They stood there staring at each other for a little, both of them foolishly smiling. 

They end up in Damen’s restaurant, rifling through the fridges and freezers in half-dimmed lights because Damen had never had to figure out which knobs change which lighting. They shoved more than enough food into the oven with their hunger guiding them, as it was way past dinner time. Damen rolled up his sleeves and pan fried some fish, while Laurent checked in periodically on the dishes in the oven. Altogether, they ate a combination of slightly raw roasted potatoes, a baked quiche that turned out alright, some sort of spinach pastry, burnt, and a deliciously fresh but quite overcooked fish. Damen’s head chef would have been appalled. 

Many months later, all Laurent remembered of the rest of the night was feeling more relaxed than he ever could imagine, and talking with Damen late past midnight, as enamoured of Damen as Damen was of him. Damen, when asked of that night, would sheepishly say that he was very distracted thinking about kissing Laurent. Only when Laurent dropped off Damen at his car did he finally get to deliver the kiss he had been playing over in his mind, long and deep, their arms sliding around each other, Damen’s fingers gently cupping Laurent’s cheek, later moving to thread through his hair. Laurent couldn’t ever remember his body tingling all the way through like that before, had never had anyone touch him this way, gentle and reverent. Auguste had been right. It was exactly as he said, that it was all going to be fine. 

“Auguste is very keen, after I told him.” Laurent says to Damen, as the memory of their first date makes him smile. “You have?” Damen’s eyes search all over Laurent’s face with interest. “Did I ever tell you how nervous I was before our first date?”

“What? You?!” Damen says with surprise. “You were so calm and poised the whole time. Miles different to me.”

Laurent turns pensive, shaking his head slightly, “Not so different to you. I almost cancelled the whole thing.” 

Damen brushes back a bit of Laurent’s hair and it falls back into the exact same place. “I never knew.” He says, looking into Laurent’s eyes, as if he can see through Laurent’s soul and read his feelings like a book. It feels piercing, too much sometimes. Laurent casts his gaze elsewhere around him, his eyes falling to the other side of the couch. “Did I ever tell you I really like your couch?” He says, changing topics. 

At this, Damen grins boyishly and says, “That is high praise, Laurent De Vere of Starburst and Co.” He invokes the name of Laurent’s architect firm, the one his parents built up from nothing and that Laurent has further made a name for. 

Laurent smiles. 

“Alright.” Damen says, smiling slightly, though it had been settled from the first moment Laurent had asked. Damen could refuse Laurent nothing. “Though I am sure your brother will skin me alive, from what I know of him, and how protective he is of you.” Laurent smiles brightly, and presses a kiss to Damen’s lips. It will mean two of his favourite people together in one room. 

They don’t speak for a long moment, and then Damen, after staring at Laurent for some time gets uncharacteristically fidgety. He presses his face against Laurent’s shoulder and says so quietly that Laurent barely makes it out, “I won’t be able to bear it if you leave me.” Then he sighs and adds “l shouldn’t say that...”

But Laurent wonders if Damen has ever said anything this vulnerable and he shifts so that he can pull Damen to his chest tucking his head under his chin. He can’t promise not to leave Damen, or that Damen won’t leave him. But he knows that exact feeling Damen is experiencing because it’s the same feeling that’s been growing in him, right from the very start. 

He says quietly, “I feel the same.” Damen looks surprised again and Laurent gives him a tiny smile. When they look into each other’s eyes, it feels like the most intimate they have ever been with each other, more than all the times they’ve kissed, more than all the times they’ve made love. It feels like it’s meant to be more than ever. 

**Author's Note:**

> I had to type this all out on my phone, due to stuff happening in my life, which I won’t go into cos that’s a whole new story. Hope you enjoy this if you’re stuck inside like I am, and stay safe! <3
> 
> Also, in case anyone is wondering, I’m still working on my other fic.


End file.
